Ornament displaying articles have been known heretofore. These have included ornamental coverings or objects carried by the exterior of the article. Decorative features have also been placed within recesses or spaces formed in the article and enclosed by a transparent plastic cover. Such an article is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,284 to F. Santisi. U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,232 to Ellerbe discloses a lighted article of footwear having a battery-carrying heal and an external light bulb for illuminating flashing light sources are also known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,922. In U.S. Pat. No. 45,811 a transparent or translucent sign is internally illuminated.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,846,878 to Kopp, 2,754,409 to Zutler, 3,624,381 to Pollack and 3,756,169 to Dybvig may also be pertinent to articles of the type described herein. For example, Dybvig shows a pedestal mounted seat while Kopp, Zutler and Pollack disclose transparent supports with lights therein.
In addition, Swiss patent 193800 to Hinnen and French patent 1530403 to Fienga are also thought to be pertinent. Fienga discloses a transparent element with lights therein while Hinnen shows a transparent cylindrical support column containing supports and light bulbs. Hinnen however fails to disclose ornamental material within its center column and could not be used to contain an agglomeration of decorative material as characterizes applicant's invention.
With respect to furniture, various ornament displaying features are known but the ability to alter at will the overall appearance of an article of furniture by changing a dominant ornamental feature has not been known heretofore. Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an article of furniture, such as a chair, table or, in particular a barstool, which is characterized by an agglomeration of alterable ornamental features.